Geoffrey Kirk

Geoffrey Stephen Kirk (3 December 1921 – 10 March 2003) was a British classical scholar. He is known for his books on Ancient Greek literature and mythology.

He was educated at Rossall School and Clare College, Cambridge. His time at Cambridge was interrupted by service in the Royal Navy, much of it in the Aegean Sea, leading to the award of a DSC. He returned and graduated in 1946.

He was awarded a research fellowship at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, later becoming a lecturer and Reader at Cambridge. He became the 35th Regius Professor of Greek there in 1974, retiring in 1982.

Works

*"Heraclitus, The Cosmic Fragments" (1954)
*"The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History with a Selection of Texts" (1957) with J. E. Raven; a revised 2nd edition was published in 1983 with the help of Malcolm Schofield.
*"The Songs of Homer" (1962) later edited as "Homer and the Epic" (1965)
*"The Language and Background of Homer - Some Recent Studies and Controversies" (1964) editor
*"Myth: Its Meaning and Functions in Ancient and Other Cultures" (1970)
*"Homer and the Oral Tradition" (1976)
*"Archilochos" (1977) with Michael Ayrton
*"The Nature of Greek Myths" (1980)
*"The Iliad: A Commentary" (1990-3) six volumes, editor

External links

* [http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,949515,00.html Obituary] in "The Guardian"